After a decade of silence, Karkwa is back with a very active autumn. The new album will be released in September In this second has received rave reviews and the musicians are now touring the province with performances until Christmas. The newspaper spoke to keyboardist François Lafontaine and drummer Stéphane Bergeron about their recent visit to Europe (including a show in front of around ten people!), the new concert and 2024 for the group.
How was your return to Europe?
Stephane Bergeron: “It was perfect. We went there with such a relaxed attitude, as if we were on vacation. Even though it was the same job in the end. We didn’t go there with a marketing approach. We hoped people would be at the shows and we would have fun. Generally, here’s what happened. There was one show where no one was there and it was a disaster. But the rest of the time there were always a lot of people there. We were like a bunch of old friends in France, laughing like we rarely do.”
Where was your show in front of “nobody”?
François Lafontaine: “It was in Reims. It was also our first show. Let’s just say it set the table pretty quickly!”
Stephane: “We played in a room with 400 to 500 seats. There were… between 10 and 15 people! [rires]»
Francis: “It was still perfect because the goal was to go there for two weeks and come back to Quebec ready to play venues with people who know us.” […] The best comment we received during this trip was a musician who told us that he had seen us in Paris 13 years ago. Back then, all rock bands made their music in English. And he saw with us that it was possible to do rock in French.”
How often have you been to Europe in the past?
Francis: “Far too often.”
Stephane: “Dozens and dozens of times. We went there several times a year for at least six or seven years.”
Francis: “Sometimes we were there for a month and a half. Other times we just went there for a show or a radio show.”
Stephane: “We invested a lot of money there.”
Francis: “I remember the time when we used to go there a lot and the Quebec group started doing better. Our manager called me and told me he had some really good news: we had doubled our income! He also had some bad news: We had less money… because we had tripled our expenses. [rires]»
Your new album was extremely well received and your concert tickets sold out very quickly. Were you surprised by this enthusiasm?
Francis: “Really. The biggest surprise is also seeing people who weren’t there at the time. We said to ourselves that we would join the people of our generation. But we also see people who are 20, 21 or 22 years old , who sing the songs! Honestly, it’s super touching. That makes us say it wasn’t made in vain.”
Given this enthusiasm, are you planning to make more space in your calendars for Karkwa in 2024?
Stephane: “It really is summer at the moment.”
Francis: “I may overlap two or three projects throughout the year. It is certain that Karkwa is a priority because we have been doing this for a long time. There’s also Marie-Pierre Arthur, we’re currently working on her record and it’s almost finished. And there is Galaxy. I won’t be able to do everything.”
What’s next for the group beyond next summer?
Stephane: “The idea was to make short-term plans. We have not yet decided what will happen in the medium term. We will see.”
Francis: “If we have something interesting to say, it could well be that we return to the studio together in two, three or four years.” And if we ever realize that nothing good will come of it, it won’t be any worse!”
Karkwa will perform at MTELUS in Montreal on November 30th, as well as on November 1stum, December 2nd and 9th. For all dates: karkwa.com.